Although for the past ten years I’ve lived less than an hour away from the well-known Rhine Center,
in Durham, last week was the first time that I had a chance to attend
one of their programs. The Rhine Center has a long history in research
on parapsychology and human consciousness and is composed of a research
center and an education center. The Rhine Education Center “provides
professional education in parapsychology and public events at the Rhine
explore psychic abilities, experiences, techniques, and the culture of
ESP throughout the world” (Rhine Center website). On Friday, July 13,
they were featuring a science fiction writer that I didn’t know—Arlan Andrews
and his talk ‘Science Fiction and the Future of the Paranormal’ caught
my eye. The novel I am writing examines the effects of uncontrolled
‘psi’ outbreaks, so I thought Andrews’s talk created a good reason to
make the trip.
Dr. Andrews is an engineer, science fiction writer, and author of
hundreds of articles, stories and columns on the paranormal, science
fiction, futurism, ancient civilizations, future technology and
politics.
His began by discussing how he got interested in science fiction, and
his experiences investigating paranormal activity with his wife (a
noted psychic). His talk was chock-full of intriguing concepts, great
stories and photos of him, Ray Bradbury and other science fiction
writers at conferences during the 1980s and 1990s. But, what I found the
most fascinating was how he founded SIGMA,
a think tank of professional science fiction, fantasy and game writers
who provide pro bono futurist talks to the U.S. government (and paid
consulting for corporations). He developed this think tank after working
as a Fellow in the White House Science Office in 1992-1993. Given
science fiction’s enormous role in shaping and imagining technology and
the future, he wanted to bring the expertise of the science fiction
community to inform challenging public policy issues. He started SIGMA,
in 1993, with a modest group of nine PhDs (he stressed that in the
beginning, he had to have people with doctorates to get over the ‘giggle
factor’ by Washington officials), and has grown it to 40 plus members.
What? A group of distinguished science fiction writers (many of whom
are scientists and engineers) giving talks to U.S. government officials
and world leaders on how to stretch their thinking to solve global
dilemmas and imagine a better future? Sign me up!! How do I join? How do
I get invited? Well, I’ve probably got a bit more publishing to do
before I get invited (and hmm maybe a doctorate in a science field
wouldn’t hurt either)…but hey, I’ll put getting invited to SIGMA on my
bucket list!
SIGMA has spoken to the U.S. government, over the years, on national
security issues, evolutionary technologies and futurism. He showed us
pictures from some of these meetings on ‘science fictional thinking’ in
which they stress the importance of imaginative and associative
thinking, and turning problems upside down in order to generate
innovative ideas. My creativity coach’s heart pumped three times harder
as I learned about SIGMA (and was surprised that I’d never heard of
them before). The talent of the SIGMA group is extraordinary and
includes many writers you know: Elizabeth Moon, Nancy Cress, Greg Bear,
Dr. Yoji Kondo, Michael Swanwick, S.M. Sterling, and Dr. Larry Niven to
name a few.
Earlier this year, as invited guests, SIGMA presented a panel on “Disruptive Technologies”
at the Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This
panel generated great buzz. The conversation inspired computer engineer
Yasser Bahjatt to create a TEDx talk about how Arab science fiction
could dream a better future and he’s created an open platform to support
artistic expression and a new culture of science fiction writing. Check
out the inspiring video and his vision.
Arlan Andrews didn’t look tired after giving a rousing two-hour talk.
I’m glad that I went (thanks to my partner, Tim for finding out about
this event and buying tickets!) and learned so much. I’m sure that my
future will include more visits to the Rhine Center. I talked with Dr.
Andrews about a possible interview exploring his ideas about creativity.
I’m expecting that will be a blast, too!